The Moon's a Harsh Mistress - Jimmy Webb

Jimmy Webb - The Moon's a Harsh Mistress
See her how she flies
Golden sails across the sky
Close enough to touch
But careful if you try
Though she looks as warm as gold
The moon's a harsh mistress
The moon can be so cold

Once the sun did shine
Lord, it felt so fine
The moon a phantom rose
Through the mountains and the pines
And then the darkness fell
And the moon's a harsh mistress
It's so hard to love her well

I fell out of her eyes
I fell out of her heart
I fell down on my face
Yes, I did, and I -- I tripped and I missed my star
God, I fell and I fell alone, I fell alone
And the moon's a harsh mistress
And the sky is made of stone

The moon's a harsh mistress
She's hard to call your own.

Raised in Oklahoma and west Texas, Jimmy Webb launched a celebrated songwriting career while still in his teens, his "Up, Up And Away" topping the charts for The Fifth Dimension in 1967. During the Flower Power era, his lush, romantic pop songs -- "MacArthur Park" for Richard Harris and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" for Glen Campbell, to name a couple -- represented everything creatively vital about a Tin Pan Alley that was fast being overshadowed by songwriting performers like Dylan and The Beatles.




Success or no, Webb quickly saw the writing on the wall. "One thing I always knew was that once they know who you are, you're dead," he explains in Ben Edmonds' liner notes to this release. "I saw that I was rapidly pigeonholed, strapped into an electric chair called 'middle of the road songwriter.' I couldn't let that happen."




So in 1969 Webb embarked on a performance career noted for its studio innovation, large-scale ambition, and delicate song craft. While his 1970 debut, Words And Music, was tailored to the rock audience, Webb subsequently re-consolidated his orchestral gains, culminating in the back-to-back extravagance of Land's End (1974) and El Mirage (1977), the latter produced by George Martin.




Webb consistently impressed critics but sold few records. His peers have always recognized his genius, bestowing prestigious songwriting awards as well as Grammys for music, lyrics, and orchestration (Webb remains the only artist to be awarded in all three categories). And then there are the legions of loyalists. "It has been a somewhat strange career -- sometimes triumphant, sometimes bittersweet -- having this almost maniacal following of people who will travel anywhere to hear me perform, yet not ever having grasped the brass ring of major acceptance as a performer," he says in these liners.




This five-disc limited-edition boxed set contains the albums Words And Music (1970), And So: On (1971), Letters (1972), Land's End (1974), and El Mirage (1977), as well as previously unreleased 1972 live performances and a disc's worth of previously unreleased outtakes.
SLEEPIN' IN THE DAYTIME
P.F. SLOAN
LOVE SONG
CARELESS WEED
PSALM ONE-FIVE-O
I. SONGSELLER
II. DOROTHY CHANDLER BLUES
III. JERUSALEM
THREE SONGS: (LET IT BE ME, NEVER MY LOVE, I WANNA BE FREE)
ONCE BEFORE I DIE
MET HER ON A PLANE
ALL NIGHT SHOW
ALL MY LOVE'S LAUGHTER
HIGHPOCKETS
MARIONETTE
LASPITCH
ONE LADY
IF SHIPS WERE MADE TO SAIL
POCKETFUL OF KEYS
SEE YOU THEN
GALVESTON
CAMPO DE ENCINO
LOVE HURTS
SIMILE
HURT ME WELL
ONCE IN THE MORNING
CATHARSIS
SONG SELLER
WHEN CAN BROWN BEGIN
PIANO
LOVE HURTS (single version)
OCEAN IN HIS EYES
FEET IN THE SUNSHINE
CLOUDMAN
LADY FITS HER BLUE JEANS
JUST THIS ONE TIME
CRYING IN MY SLEEP
IT'S A SIN
ALYCE BLUE GOWN
LAND'S END
ASLEEP ON THE WIND
THE HIGHWAYMAN
IF YOU SEE ME GETTING SMALLER I'M LEAVING
MIXED-UP GUY
CHRISTIAAN, NO
MOMENT IN A SHADOW
SUGARBIRD
WHERE THE UNIVERSES ARE
P.F. SLOAN
DANCE TO THE RADIO
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS
SKYLARK (A MEDITATION)
NO GOOD INDIAN
JET LAG RAG
YOU MIGHT AS WELL SMILE
WHISTLETOWN
IT WILL STAND
HOT ROD QUEEN
SEE THAT GIRL
IT AIN'T RAINING
VAGABOND QUEEN
IF THIS WAS THE LAST SONG
SATURDAY SUIT
CLOUDMAN
FINGERPAINT ME
CATHARSIS
SIMILE
PIANO
Jimmy Webb & Harry Nilsson
OVERTURE
SLEEPIN' IN THE DAYTIME
BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX
MACARTHUR PARK
WICHITA LINEMAN DIDN'T WE
POCKETFUL OF KEYS
WHEN CAN BROWN BEGIN
ONCE IN THE MORNING
SONG FOR MY BROTHER
WHERES THE PLAYGROUND,SUSIE?
JERUSALEM
GALVESTON
WHISTLETOWN
PIANO
WICHITA LINEMAN

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[georgiarebelinne]

Unless you've actually seen Mr.Webb live----you cannot possibly understand where his tunes come from. There are charismatic/ supernatural/Divine forces at work---which simply can't be captured on Tape/video/paper/canvas----wha­tever medium. To see--to FEEL Mr. Webb perform live is a thing of beauty and ,only them, can you fully comprehend his God given talent and the 110% of passion that he puts in every song--reaching far beyond his physical limits......yes , those who know----know! :)

[MrMusicgerry]

jimmy is touched by GOD, terrific

[DesperateHW]

sad song

The Harsh Mistress no doubt was just misinterpreted.

[zero4zooz]

Amazing songwriter and musician.

More people should know of Webb.

Been an inspiration to me for years.

The lyrics almost smack of addiction, another whack form of love, methinks . . .

Rock on Mr. Webb, rock on.

~m

[COOPEVETS]

One can feel his pain in this rendition...Jim Webb is a genius all the way around.

[AngelicGunrunner]

@jimdivax Could well be true that the first version you hear of this will become your private "master take". It's a very beautifully cratfed song, most great singers with the right kind of voice and understanding could succeed with it. I love Radka Toneff's version, also Metheny/Haden's gently devastating instrumental take. Would want to hear Cassandra Wilson do it. And an Edith Piaf version would have been very nice (though it's not that old is it?)

[rickyschultzusa]

Something not spoken of here, I can assume that this song was written as an inspiration from the science fiction novel of the same name by Robert Heinlein in 1966.

[BigJohnMusician3]

Long a fan of Jimmy Webb; discovered this one about six months ago. Gorgeous lyrics and music/orchestration ... his greatest creation ever, period. Genious ....

[CEllisOz]

I'm sure this is the version from "Ten Easy Pieces". Just awesome, awesome, as is every track on the album.

[peterzang]

@BloozeDaddy76 Yes...it's called 10 Easy Pieces. Get it. It's great!

[fhwhome]

@BloozeDaddy76 Check out "10 Easy Pieces".